NEWS > 25 November 2006

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Guardian Unlimited - UK
25 November 2006

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Police Shoot 3 by NYC Strip Cl

NEW YORK (AP) - Police shot three young men who had just left a bachelor party at a strip club early Saturday, killing one man on the day of his wedding, according to police and witnesses. One of the survivors was in critical condition.

There was no immediate explanation for what sparked the shooting, which produced an outcry from family members and the Rev. Al Sharpton. The Police Department's chief spokesman, Paul Browne, declined to comment.

The shooting happened just after 4 a.m. near the Kalua Cabaret in Queens, said Officer Kathleen Price. She said there were no reports that any officers were wounded. As many as eight officers may have been involved, said Sgt. Mike Wysokowski, another department spokesman.

``All I know, they was celebrating,'' said Denise Ford, who said her son was one of the survivors. She said the man who died was the groom. ``The guy was getting married today.''

The intersection where the shooting occurred remained blocked off mid-afternoon Saturday as police inspected a car and a minivan and placed dozens of crime scene markers on the ground where shell casings had been recovered. Ford said the trio's car had hit an unmarked police vehicle.

Relatives said the dead man was Sean Bell, 23.

Robert Porter, who identified himself as Bell's first cousin, said he was supposed to be a DJ at the wedding.

``I still don't want to believe it, a beautiful day like this, and he was going to have a beautiful wedding, he was going to live forever with his wife and children. And this happened,'' Porter said.

The Rev. Al Sharpton said family members told him that there were no guns in the young mens' car and ``there was no reason for the police to shoot.''

``On the face of it, it seems to me to be certainly something that causes extreme alarm and must be thoroughly investigated,'' said Sharpton, who said he was called by a relative of the man who died.

Sharpton said Bell and his fiancee had two children, ages 5 months and 3 years.

Sharpton said after visiting the two wounded men - Trent Benefeld, 23, and Joseph Guzman, 31 - that he was outraged to find the pair handcuffed to their hospital beds. He said one suffered 17 wounds, though it was unclear how many were bullet wounds, and the other man was shot three times.

``We're not anti-police ... we're anti-police brutality,'' Sharpton said.

Abraham Kamara, 38, who lives a few blocks from the scene of the shooting, said he was getting ready for work when he heard gunfire.

``First it was like four shots,'' he said. ``And then it was like pop-pop-pop like 12 times.''

Roy Brown, who said he works as a photographer at the club, said sirens sounded not long after the three men left the club.

``They weren't rowdy or nothing like that,'' said Brown, 57.

The owner of the building, Juan Escobar, would not say who owned the Kalua Cabaret. A message seeking comment was left at a phone number listed for the club.

One of the wounded men was in critical condition at Mary Immaculate Hospital and the other was listed as stable.

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Article sourced from

Guardian Unlimited - UK25 November 2006

Police Shoot 3 by NYC Strip Cl

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Guardian Unlimited - UK
25 November 2006